Improvement in bee-hives



tant @vga ga S9) l ,il Y m uw w strat i @tina v THERON WEBB, OF BUDA, ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent No. 85,878, dated Jwauwry 12, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN BEE-RIVES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the name.

To all whom 'it 'ma/y concern:

Be it known that I, IHERQN W B, of Buda, in the county of Bureau, and in the, State [of Illinois', have invented certain new and usefnl Improvements in Bee- Hives; anddo hereby declare hat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, an d to the letters of rei'- erence marked thereon. I g l The nature of my invention consists in the construction and general .arrangement of a bee-hive, which will be hereinafter more fully sfet forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation,referring to the annexed drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a side elevation, in section;

Figure 2 is a sectional front elevation; and

Figure 3 is a perspeetiveof the slides used tocover or close the entrances to the hive.

The lower part f the hive consists of a box, A, in the ont and at the base of which is cut the entrance 'a,for the bees. This entrance maybe closed by means of a sliding door, B, which is placed at the front of the box A, and which, when' raised toi leave the entra. ce

. open, is retained in its position by means of a small spring, O, as shown in g. l. a

The slide B, closing the entrance to the hive, is perforated parallel to and n'ear ,its lower margin, thereby aiording ventilation when the slide is placed over the entrance a. ,l 4

Above the entrance a, omtlie outside of the box A, is placed a projection or cap,` A', which lserves to protec the entrance from rain, Sac. i

In the rear side of box A,is a small hole, D', with a swinging slide, E, this hole being protected by wire gauzeplaced on the inner side, and serves to ventilate the hive, at will.

The upper edges of the front and back parts of box A are made with ashoulder, b,-on the inside, upon which shoulder rest the ends of the upper cross-bars of the frames D D, which frames may be of any number desired.

The 'ame D is constructed of a top bar, c, bottom bar d, and side bars e e, and is of such size as to allow the bees to pass all aroundthe frame D, between it and the top, bottoni, and sides ofthe box A.

On the inner side of the Atwo side bars e. e, and 'extending the whole length of the` same, are secured strips t i, bevelled so as to .form awedge-edge VThe under side of the topbar c is provided with three bevelled strips, f j, running parallel with each other, and extending to the side bars e e on both sides, the: middle one connecting and forming a joint with the strips 'i 'i on said side`bars.

The advantage of the tbre`e\hevelled strips f f is that they aibrd the bees'al iirmmation upon which to build their comb than could be secured b; a single strip, thereby diminishing the liability of th con'lb to break or melt from its foundation in wart weather.

The middle one of thethree bevelled strips, ff, i more prominent than the outside ones, and the base of the latter do not extend to the edges of the toj bar c, but are placed a suitable distance 'oin th same. v

The upper side of the top bar c, of the frame D, i of convex form from the top to the outer edges, there by preventing the diierent frames from becoming irml stuck together with the comb,

In the centre of the top bar c, and ,on its upper sidf y Iplaoe a pin, lo, for the convenience of handling th frames.

A platform, F, rests uponand covers the box A form-in g the floor of the second compartment or box, C Through this floor, and near the corners of the sami are four holes, g g, opening into .two honey-boxes H E which are placed on platform F', and directly over tb holes, each of said bolesbeing provided with a slid or shut-off', h, to prevent the bees from passing ini the boxes H H, when not desired.

The honey-boxs H H are of rectangular form, witl out bottom, placed at the sides of the box G, occupi ing the whole length of thesame, from iront to rea leaving an open space between them and the centr and have, at one end, a sliding door, to open or clof the same, at will.

Through the platform or door F, at its -iront 'edg is out an aperture or opening, on, over which is place a funnel, I, which passes through the top'of the bc G, and into the feed-box I, conducting the bees theret A slide, K, rests upon the door F, and passes throng the back part ofthe funnel I, to the front part ther of, closing the aperture m, for the purpose of shuttir oii the bees fromV the feed-box J; the slide K beir furnished with a long handle, M, which rests upon ai extends across the floor F, and passes out through tl rear side of box G, said slide being made to work trl by passing under two cleats u n, which are secured the door F.

The front side of the box G is providedwith z opening, o, opposite ,to and corresponding in size wi the opening an, already described, and this opening is constantly covered by a perforated slide, p, excej when it is desired to hive ,the bees, when a met slide, S, is inserted through said opening o, and co1 pletely closes the aperture m, from the lower side, shown in iig. l.

On the iloor of feed-box J is placed a trough, other suitable vessel, N, -to contain the .ieedt The sides of the boxes G and J are furnished wi ventilators, O O, protected by wire gauze, on the insic and those in the box G have sliding covers on the or side, as shown in iig. 2.

nto the upper edges, and covering the Whole upper t of the feed-box J, is inserted a pane of glass, R, reby giving the bees the benetlt of the light and when required.

.he feed-box J is covered by a, hinged lid, P, Whioh be opened or closed :tt pleasure. f uving thus fully described my invention,

Vhat I claim as new, :uid desire to secure by Lets Patent, is-

. The combination of the box or main hive A,

.taining the frames D D, the box G, enclosing the ley-boxes H H, and the feed-box J, covered by ss plate R, and hinged lid P, all constructed and anged substantially as and for the purposes hereir forth.

5. The frame D, when constructed as described, with the top bar, of e convex form on its upper side, and when provided with 'wedge-shaped strips i i, on the side blu-s, and with three horizontal Wedge-shaped strips ff, on the lower side of the top bar, the centre one of the said strips f f forming e joint with the side strips i i, substantially as and fort-he purposes herein.

THERQN WEBB. Witnesses l'JOHN WATERMAN,

ZEPHANIAH WATERMAN. 

